Durban — The campaign to have President Cyril Ramaphosa face the music appears to have gained momentum as hundreds flocked to protest in Durban; calling for the embattled head of state to be apprehended and step aside from his position.
Various civil movement groups led by ANC and MK veteran Carl Niehaus marched to the city’s police headquarters where they demanded the arrest of Ramaphosa, whom they alleged had breached his oath of office.
Niehaus said Ramaphosa had something to answer regarding the Phala Phala saga. He had allegedly hidden more than $4 million that was not declared to rele-vant institutions such as the SA Revenue Service and the SA Reserve Bank, and had breached the laws of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, he said.
Protesters also marched to the ANC KZN headquarters in Durban where a moment of silence was observed in honour of the party’s late deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte, who died on Sunday.
Delivering the memorandum, Niehaus said Ramaphosa had abused his power when he allegedly instructed police to conduct an unlawful operation to recover the money hidden on his farm that was allegedly stolen by Namibian nationals.
“When that money was stolen from his farm he did not report to any investigating institutions. Instead, he was involved in a cross-border raid in Namibia to track down those who stole his illicit money.
“He bribed the suspects found to have been involved in stealing the illicit money from his farm in order not to report him to the police. A woman was also involved among those who were abducted by the president, who had instructed the police to conduct the operation,” he said.
Niehaus said he expected the police to do their work without fear or favour, and should Ramaphosa set foot in KZN, the police must arrest him.
After handing over the memorandum, the protesters joined supporters of former eThekwini Municipality mayor Zandile Gumede, who is being tried on fraud charges relating to a multimillion-rand Durban Solid Waste contract.
Speaking to the Daily News, Niehaus said the organisers had decided to intensify the protest and elect 18 members to co-ordinate the protest throughout the country.
“We shall soon announce where the march will take place and we will ensure that more and more people join us,” he stated.
Real Democracy leader Srini Naidoo told the Daily News that he was pleased to have been part of the march, saying Ramaphosa should be held accountable for various alleged crimes he had committed.
“The man seems to be working under instruction, and now we know who these instructors are. His handlers, and the Stellenbosch Mafia, will be charged with treason,” said Naidoo.
Muzi Hlengwa, the leader of African People First, said his movement participated in the march to apply pressure to have Ramaphosa investigated.
“We want the police to arrest him. Failure to do that … the citizens will arrest him themselves because we believe he must go.”
Real Democracy member Shamila Pather said it was the first time that she had marched in her life, and that she could not sit back and watch as the country was destroyed.
“I joined the march which expressed the anger and frustration of citizens with the manner in which police and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are handling the investigation of Ramaphosa. The fact that he has not been arrested and processed and granted the same procedure as every other accused criminal is a blatant slap in the face of honest tax-paying citizens.”
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe weighed in and said citizens should insist that no one was above the law, and that the law be applied consistently.
“The NPA was quick to charge the likes of Carl Niehaus on matters that at best can be described as misdemeanours. He was accused of violating Covid-19 protocols when many in power were guilty of the same.
“The president has, without doubt, violated his oath of office. He has allowed his personal affairs to interfere with his official duties. In addition, a case can be made that he has abused state resources to advance his personal interests. There are also serious charges of having engaged in defeating the ends of justice. On top of that suggestions are that he may have colluded with those engaged in acts of criminality, such as kidnapping and torture of suspects.”
Ramaphosa had been very vocal about corruption, Seepe said, but was caught with his pants down. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, and ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe did not reply to questions from the publication.
Daily News